But prosecutors say the diet book that TV pitchman Kevin Trudeau was selling called for drastic techniques such as prescription hormone injections, a month of colon hydrotherapy and a grueling 500-calorie-a-day diet.

More than five years after his ubiquitous late-night infomercials aired, Trudeau, 50, went on trial Tuesday for criminal contempt at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, accused of violating the terms of a decade-old consent order in which he promised the Federal Trade Commission that he would stop making misleading ads.

In opening statements, prosecutors painted Trudeau as a snake oil salesman who lied about his best-selling book "The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About" in ads describing how he stayed trim on a diet of prime rib, gravy, butter, wine and beer.

"He chose to make his book sound way better than it was to sell more books and make more money," Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Krickbaum said.

Trudeau's attorney, Thomas Kirsch, told jurors his client is a longtime natural-cures advocate and outspoken critic of big government and corporations. Trudeau was merely stating his opinions in his ads — and that was not barred by the court order, he said. The "cure" referred to in the book was based on a 1950s diet designed by a British doctor and is protected by free speech, Kirsch said.

"If (Trudeau) wanted to write a book that said the moon is made of cheese, he could do it," Kirsch said.